2015 NYC Holden Cup

Lamb still has 3 more years (including this one) of being available for NYC.
He is the same age as Sione was when he played seniors, but he isn't the same sort of amazing athlete that Sione is.
He has the best football brain we have seen in a very long time, but i'd rate his defense as a bit weak at under 20s level still, and a NSW cup prop like Vaivai would use him as a speed bump at this stage of his career.
I'd love to see him do a full off season with firstgrade next year and then play some seniors, but not this year.
Having said that, i was worried about him playing NYC last year, and he took to that like a duck to water.

Thu 26th March, 03:45PM
Many who have been following the NYC Newcastle Knights this season could have mistaken they’re seeing double on the field since the side was boosted by identical twins Daniel and Jacob Saifiti.

The Club has seen it’s share of successful brothers like Matt and Kurt Gidley, Andrew and Matthew Johns and the recently re-signed Mata’utias, but has never had a set of twins play in the same team.

The pair grew up on the Central Coast and played their junior football with the Entrance Tigers before joining up with the Under 20s toward the end of 2014.

Since joining the Club, the brothers have flourished under coach Troy Pezet and the team’s support staff, making names for themselves as tough and dedicated members of the young Knights’ pack.

Daniel said coach Pezet instills a sense of passion in his team and values the importance of having fun and enjoying time with their teammates.

“But he reminds us that we’re in a competition and we’re there to win games, so at the same time it’s tough and reserved,” Daniel adds.

For Jacob, the highlight of his time with the Club has been the opportunity to move to Newcastle and form bonds with his teammates that hail from as far as Queensland and New Zealand.

Inseparable off the football field, the brothers even play alongside each other, with Daniel as prop and Jacob in the second row.

They don’t claim to experience twin intuition during games, but maintain a comfortable run of order on the football paddock.

“If he takes a run, I like to take the next run after, or vice versa,” Daniel said.

“We usually know when we are angry at each other or make a mistake, we just give each other a look.”

Meanwhile the boys, who tower at 193cms and tip the scales at more than 100 kilograms, say their teammates have developed their own ways to tell them apart without their numbered football jersey.

“At training, I usually wear white and red boots and Daniel usually wears white and green boots, but I think they are starting to get the hang of it now,” Jacob said with a grin.

The Saifitis both have strong aspirations to take their football to the highest level and look to the success of NRL stars for inspiration.

“Last year it was either Sam Burgess or Sonny Bill Williams, but overall all time I’d say Petero Civoniceva,” Jacob said.

“For myself at the Club, it would be Beau Scott. I play on the right edge, so I try to emulate my game off his a bit,” Daniel added.

While NYC strength and conditioning coach Mick Reid says identifying the twins correctly initially created some headaches, they’ve both been quality and well respected additions to the squad.

“The twins share a competitiveness that’s pushed their football to the next level," Reid said.

“When you first meet them, being identical it was pretty hard.

“The boys still have trouble with it, but the fact my younger brothers were identical twins, I kind of pick up little traits, so I don’t have a problem with it.”

Since arriving at the Club after playing on the Central Coast, the pair dedicated themselves to becoming fitter competitors and shed more than 20 kilograms each.

“They are keen to be rugby league players and they know their work and their tools,” Reid said.

“I think they are going to be a couple of really good props for the future for us.

“They are only young still so they still have a bit of work to do.”

So working under mentors ex-Newcastle and International prop Craig Smith, an ex-Knights’ hooker and front rower in Reid, it’s sure to give them a valuable edge.

“We’ll show them the ropes and show them a few little tricks. Hopefully it will work for those two guys,” Reid said.

The sibling rivalry has also brought out phenomenal results.

“They always ask each other what they lifted in the gym and the other one says they’ll do better,” Reid added.

“When we do conditioning, they’ll be a apart from each other, but you always see that little sly look over to see if the other one is beating the other one.

“It’s always good competition, especially when you’re playing with your brother."
The young Knights take on the Penrith Panthers this Saturday in a three-game fixture at Hunter Stadium.

The NYC Newcastle Knights are eager to return to Hunter Stadium this Saturday following two weeks on the road.

After a second half revival against the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday, team manager Craig Smith expects the Knights to repeat the same effort this week that earned the hard fought victory.

“The Knights scored 29 points in the second half to snatch a one-point lead from the Titans,” Smith said.

“We challenged the team at half time and they responded.

"We challenged them individually about just giving what they had to give.

“We have had two away games and we are back at home where we love playing.

“We will be well rested and will be coming up against the Panthers, a Club that is traditionally throughout their juniors, fairly strong, so we’ll have to be on our game.

“We've had a really good week this week in training and preparation."

The young Knights have adapted well after losing a number of players like Josh Birch, fullback Bryce Donavan and Mao Uta through injury since round one.

“We have three players since round one that we’ve lost through injury, so the team is still finding its way with cohesion and partnerships," Smith said.

“The good part of what has happened is that the forwards have maintained the same pack, so they are working really well.”

Smith praised hooker Danny Levi and lock Luke Yates who have played phenomenal NYC football after training with the NRL squad in the pre-season and anticipates the pair to play important leadership roles against the Panthers.

“There are lot of positives in the fact the pack has maintained the same for what will be a month worth of footy, and the fact that we’ll be playing at home," Smith said.

With Bryce Donovan still on the sidelines with an ankle injury, youngster Brock Lamb has stepped in as goal kicker.

“He’s been kicking well after kicking for the Australian Schoolboys last year,” Smith said.

The NYC side will also harness the boost of enthusiasm provided by local talents Dylan Pythian and Jack Kelly.

“Young local boy, Dylan Pythian filled in at fullback last week and was Players’ Player,” Smith said.

"Jack Kelly has played all games for us this year and he’s a Lakes boy.

"We will be all hands on deck and will be looking to keep our home record in tact."
Where it will be won: In the forwards

“It will be won and lost in the forward in the middle of the field,” Smith said.

“They all love our conditioning skills games when the ball is in their hands.

"They don’t love the conditioning so much when there’s no ball and they have to get up and down off the ground, which is all that hard stuff.

“With a bit of luck and our forwards can lay a platform as they did in the second half of last week.

"With our forward pack together for the last month, they are starting to understand that a little bit more.

“You have the likes of Brock Lamb Jack Cogger, Braden Robson and Josh Birch and all the guys out wide.

“We have a pretty slick backline, but you can’t utilise them if you don’t dominate in the middle.

"We hope to look after the middle because that’s where we think we’ll win the game."
Last Word:

“We are defending our Kingdom as we like to say with the Knights,” Smith said.

“It will be a big game for us with all three games at Hunter Stadium."

Sat 28th March, 12:22PM
The NYC Newcastle Knights ran out 34-8 winners over the Penrith Panthers at Hunter Stadium on Saturday morning.
Brock Lamb was in superb form for the home side, scoring the first try and making plenty of good plays at the end of sets.

The Knights struck the first blow of the match, Lamb throwing a nice dummy to break through and score in the 7th minute. Lamb added the extras to his own try to make the score 6-0.

The young Panthers were on the back foot but the Knights couldn't make them pay with a combination of knock-ons and loose passes.

The home side almost paid for their wastefulness in the 14th minute when Dave Cowhan burst through a gaping hole in the Knights' defence only to lose the ball in a last-ditch tackle from behind.

Fullback Dylan Phythian crossed over for his second try in two games six minutes later, exploiting a gap on the left side to score near the uprights. Lamb again converted, pushing the score to 12-0.

The Knights were starting to build up steam and at the end of the next set Lamb placed a perfect kick from 35 metres out that allowed halves partner Jack Cogger to hold Joshua Jay up in goal.

The pressure paid off three minutes later when Cogger crossed over for his first try of the season on the right edge. Lamb's kick was again spot-on, the score 18-0.

The Panthers bounced back through Jay five minutes later, the winger making the most of minimal space on the left touchline to score in the corner.

Halfback Dylan Edwards' conversion was waved away to leave the score at 18-4.

Schoolboy international Braden Robson almost pulled off a wonder-try in the 38th minute - latching onto his own grubber in the right corner – but video replays showed that his foot had just come into contact with the touchline.

The half-time siren sounded soon after and the Knights took a healthy 18-4 lead into the sheds.

The Knights started the second half under pressured after Phythian let the kick-off go out of play, with the sun in his eyes.

The Panthers nearly made the Knights pay in their next set with Josh Grant attempting to force his way over from dummy-half, but the hooker was deemed to be held up in-goal.

The Knights made no mistakes in the 47th minute, centre Josh Birch steam-rolling his way over on the left edge to score.

Lamb's conversion was waved away this time, leaving the score at 22-4.

The Panthers struck back two minutes later, winger Jay bagging his second with the help of a slick pass from left edge partner Christian Crichton.

Edwards was again unable to convert from the sideline, the score 22-8 with 25 minutes to play.

The Knights continued to press in attack and in the 62nd minute Danny Levi scooted over from dummy-half to score. Lamb again converted to push the score to 28-8.

The Panthers refused to give up despite the 20-point margin and with 11 minutes left on the clock it looked as though Jay had crossed over for his third try of the morning.

The Knights made a Captain's Call though and replays showed that Jay was marginally out of touch when placing the ball down.

The Knights raced back up the other end of the field on the back of a penalty and Levi scored his second, twisting out of a tackle to get the ball down.

Lamb was proving flawless with his kicks and scored again, giving the Knights a 34-8 lead that they took to the full-time siren.

The NYC boys are doing well. But injuries to key players can often put a team off-track. Harry Pondekas is doing well down at the Doggies. What was the problem with him at the knights? Hopefully some news about Pride's future in a few weeks. Has kept things close to his chest.

@Billy could you please give me a quick rundown on Robson's form thus far?

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Well I've only seen one game this year. In that game Birch was much better than Robson.
Three trys were scored by Penrith (one disallowed), all down the right side where Robson and Lam were defending. I thought Robson left Lam out on his own to deal with a 3 man overlap each time, although a few over guys might have helped as well.
Birch is a big guy and was strong in both attack and defence, as he has been for the last two years.

Yeah, he was talking about the game where we dropped our bundle and lost to the Coyboys. There were a few circumstances to take into account. Donovan was injured early in the game which disrupted the backline, and it was hot and humid in north queensland, so the guys ran out of gas it seems.